Assessment and Goal Setting - Ontario College of Social Workers ...

the letter, containing her opinions and conclusions which
are supportive of the father. The nature of the social
worker’s opinions reflected those usually seen in custody
and access reports, though the stated purpose of contact
was to provide counselling to assist Michael's coping
with his parent’s high conflict separation, and the social
worker’s contact with the parents had been minimal.
The above scenario raises a number of issues and engages
the following College standards:
• The issue of whether to release clients’ information to a
third party must be carefully examined: “Prior to releasing
information from a record that pertains to more than one
client, for example, a couple, family group…College
members receive authorization from each individual
client.” 4 Additionally, “College members inform clients
of the parameters of information to be disclosed and make
reasonable efforts to advise clients of the possible
consequences of such disclosure.” 5 Even with consent, a
member may feel that releasing information is ill advised,
for example in the context of acrimonious court
proceedings, and should take steps to convey this concern
to the client.
• In providing information about clients to a third party
“College members do not make statements…or issue or
sign a certificate, report or other document…that the
member knows or ought reasonably to know are false,
misleading, inaccurate or otherwise improper.” 6 A
document provided by a member should therefore focus on
the nature of the member’s contact with the client and not
venture opinions about issues that have not been addressed
in the services provided.
• High conflict situations are emotionally charged for all
parties, and members are not immune. Members must be
“aware of their values, attitudes and needs and how these
impact on their professional relationships with clients.” 7
The record should: “report impartially and objectively the
factors relevant to the client's situation. The record clearly
distinguishes the College member's observations and
opinions from the information reported by the client”. 8
The record should also “be free of prejudice and
discriminatory remarks”. 9
Had the social worker in the previous scenario
demonstrated this personal, clinical and contractual clarity
it would have contributed greatly to a focus in her practice
and helped her avoid straying into dangerous waters that
were not in her clients’ best interest.
Revisiting Goals
While it is crucial to maintain focus on the agreed upon
goals that flowed from the initial assessment, assessment is
ongoing and goals can be revisited. Consider the
following:
Maria, a newly separated mother of three children, seeks
counselling to help her deal with her recent job loss and
home stress. The agency she contacts offers up to six
sessions and this is explained to her at the outset. The
goals that she and the member agree upon are therefore
modest, in keeping with the time-limited nature of the
services available to her. She and the member agree that
the ultimate goal will be to link her to other resources
that would provide the ongoing assistance she requires.
After the third session, however, Maria calls the member
to inform her that her children have been apprehended
by child welfare. Understandably distressed, she asks the
member to contact the child welfare worker and the
member agrees. The member and Maria then decide
together that their immediate goal will be to determine
what Maria needs to do in order to have her children
returned to her. The member advocates with her
employer on Maria’s behalf to extend their contract for
two additional sessions and is successful in this. Maria
and the member deal with the urgent child welfare issues
and Maria is linked to resources that will provide
ongoing support for her personal and family issues and
assistance in finding employment.
In this situation the member was aware of the “purpose,
mandate and function” of her employing organization, and
“how these impact on and limit professional relationships
with clients” 10 and was mindful of this in her initial
contract, though when a crisis arose, was able to
renegotiate with the client to focus on the immediate issue
of the apprehension of her children. The member also
appropriately advocated on behalf of her client 11 and was
able to extend the sessions to allow her and her client to
return to their original contract.
As already established, client participation in setting goals
is pivotal. This is more difficult, however, when the client
is a family and more particularly, a family fraught with
conflict whose members may agree on very little. This
challenge is compounded when the goal for intervention is
imposed by an external body:
Jill, a 14-year-old girl who lives with her mother and
stepfather, has no contact with her biological father. He
has gone to court to have his access reinstated. The
Judge orders reconciliation counselling and the social
worker is retained. She meets with Jill for 12 sessions,
and during sessions, Jill consistently expresses that she
does not want contact with her father. With Jill’s consent
the social worker conveys Jill’s stance to both parents
and legal counsel for each of the parties, including Jill.
She recommends that Jill be encouraged by her mother
and stepfather to participate in counselling and that they,
as well as her biological father, also engage in
counselling about how best to assist Jill in reestablishing
contact with her father.